The Irish financial regulator becomes the first Irish-based ‘trusted flagger’ under the EU’s Digital Service Act — big tech platforms will now have to prioritise the Central Bank’s complaints and notifications
Ireland’s online media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, has announced the Central Bank of Ireland as its first ‘trusted flagger’ to help detect and report scams and online fraud.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, online tech platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are obliged to give priority to notifications from officially appointed ‘trusted flaggers’ and must also act quickly to ensure that the flagged content is not illegal.
The Central Bank is the sole ‘trusted flagger’ appointed by the regulator, despite the scheme being open to applicants since early 2024. Coimisiún na Meán says that it hopes other entities will apply for the status, which requires heightened levels of resource allocation and commitment.
As a designated flagger, the Central Bank has assigned duties and set up processes internally to monitor for online fraud and scams, including any offer of financial services without authorisation.
Coimisiún na Meán, which regulates large swathes of big tech platforms headquartered in Ireland, has the power to fine tech giants billions of euro. It is due to begin enforcement processes in the coming months, although no timeframe has been given for when the first enforcement action might conclude.
“Coimisiún na Meán is committed to ensuring a media landscape that consumers can trust, and where they are protected from exploitation and fraud,” said John Evans, digital services commissioner for Coimisiún na Meán.
“By granting the Central Bank of Ireland trusted flagger status, we are legally obliging online platforms to ensure that any illegal online content reported by the Central Bank of Ireland, such as financial scams and fraud are prioritised by the platform and dealt with in a timely manner.”
He said that trusted flaggers will also feed into Coimisiún na Meán’s “identification of trends and issues” through annual reports “which will be instrumental in establishing an informed, evidence-based approach to our platform supervisory activities”.
Speaking at the announcement of the regulatory designation, the governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, said that the move would help strengthen its oversight of the financial sector here.
“The Central Bank of Ireland is delighted to be the first organisation in the country to be granted trusted flagger status by Coimisiún na Meán,” he said.
”This accreditation marks another milestone in the Bank’s commitment to protecting consumers and strengthens our efforts to disrupt the activities of unauthorised providers of regulated financial services.”
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